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How smoking affects your health

Published
Sunday 20 June 2004 Published Sun 20 Jun 2004

Adapted Media Release

Cigarette smoking harms the body by raising cholesterol levels and blood pressure, as well as increasing the risk of cancer and cataracts. Smoking destroys certain vitamins and creates the need for other specific nutrients.
{"Addictive substances: Nicotine," Lets Live Magazine, Oct. 1996}

No amount of smoking is free of risk. The exact amount of risk depends on how long you've smoked and how deeply the you inhale, as well as genetic factors. (UCBerkeley Wellness Letter, June 1998}

Smoking is associated with a decline in physical function that makes a smoker act several years older than he/she really is. Tobacco smoking reduces the effectiveness of medications, such as pain relievers, antidepressants, tranquilizers, sedatives, ulcer medication and insulin. With estrogen and oral contraceptives, smoking may increase the risk of heart and blood-vessel disease. Currently, smoking kills 1 in 10 adults worldwide.
{Information Plus - The Information Series on Current Topics, "Alcohol and Tobacco, America's Drugs of Choice," 1998}

Other research shows that smokers have an increased risk of heart disease (including stroke, chest pain and palpitations), cancer, emphysema, fatigue, loss of vitamins and nutrients, premature aging, gastrointestinal disorders, osteoporosis, sinus congestion and throat irritation. According to medical reports, colds, flu and laryngitis last much longer for those who smoke.

Smoking causes an increased stress in the whole body even though there seems to be a lessening of stress when the body gets its 'fix' from the nicotine. Dr. Norman Shealy, a physician with the Shealy Institute for Comprehensive Pain and Health Care in Springfield, MO, tells us that smokers tend to consume other drugs and chemicals more frequently than nonsmokers, and have a lower threshold for pain, possibly because smoking stimulates adrenaline and also blocks one of the body's natural pain relievers. Smokers are more vulnerable to headaches.

Driving skills are negatively affected for both the smoker and those who breathe the passive smoke. In his book, "The Risk of Passive Smoke," Roy Shepard tells us that tobacco smoke impairs the ability to judge time intervals and muscle responsiveness, as well as vision and memory. Also affected is the learning ability and a variety of reasoning tasks employed during test taking.

Dr. Edward Koop, past Surgeon General, tells us in his book, "The Memoirs of an American Family Doctor," that emphysema is found almost exclusively in smokers, and that 35% of all cancers are from smoking.

In her book, "The Scientific Case against Smoking," Ruth Winter writes that the use of tobacco is one of the primary, but frequently unrecognized contributors to drug interactions, and there can be errors in reading the diagnostic tests of the smokers because of the differences of the normal blood levels of several elements. Drugs taken by the smoker can interact, causing them to be weaker, stronger, or not effective.

Dr. John Farquhar, in his book, "The Last Puff," tells us that 95% of those who die from lung cancer are smokers. Lung cancer is killing more women than breast cancer, and cervical cancer is increased 8 to 17 times because of the increased concentration of nicotine on the cervical mucus; pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) is worsened as well.

One out of four adults smoke now as compared to 4 out of 10 in the 1940's. (Energy Times magazine, Feb. 2000}

Military studies of those in basic training show that those who smoke are 50% more likely than nonsmokers to injure themselves with sprains and fractures.
{People's Pharmacy, Public Radio, April 15, 2000 - Show # 309}

People who smoke are more likely to have sinusitis.
{Reuters Health, HealthCentral, Aug. 2000}

Cigarettes don't just damage the heart and lungs: they also interfere with the healing of bone and muscle injuries, and they lead to higher rates of complications after surgery.
{CBS HealthWatch, Aug. 2000}

In general, adolescents, whites and women are the groups most susceptible to becoming dependent on nicotine, even when using the same amount of nicotine as other groups. Women also smoked fewer cigarettes than men but have a higher rate of dependence.
{"Nicotine most likely to hook women, whites and young," Reuters Health, healthcentral.com - Oct. 2000}

Smoking has been linked in medical studies to more than 25 diseases, including heart disease, strokes, respiratory illness and several forms of cancer.
{John Banzhaf, head of Action on Smoking, HealthCentral.com - May 2000}

Even though studies show that kicking the habit has immediate health effects, it is clear there are permanent ones. Smokers, even those who quit years ago, have damage to their genes that can lead to cancer. There is molecular damage in the lungs of people who smoked only a pack a day for a year.
{Anderson Cancer Center, HealthCentral - Reuters News, June 2000}

While smoking is a well-known risk factor for heart disease and cancer, the habit can wreak havoc on bones and muscles, and smokers not only fare worse after certain surgical procedures, they are more likely to see them fail. Because smoking impedes the blood supply to the lower spine, it is also linked to chronic low back pain and degenerative disk disease.
{"Smokers found to fare worse after bone surgery," presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, investigators were from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, Reuters Health, HealthCentral.com - 2001}

The information placed on low-nicotine brands is deceptive, and the filters which dilute the smoke when tested on the machine simulation do not appear to have the same effect as on humans. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reports that people who smoke 'light' or 'mild' cigarettes inhale up to eight times as much tar and nicotine as printed on the label.
{" 'Mild' cigarettes still pack nicotine punch," Reuters Health, healthcentral.com - Jan. 2001}

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